The Tugs After The Storm

One of the most memorable sunsets I’ve ever witnessed after powerful thunderstorms cleared out of the area – fully illuminating the brick buildings of Bow Street and creating a rainbow over the Memorial Bridge.

The Memorial Bridge in The Snow

The Memorial Bridge in The Snow

You can’t see too many snowflakes here because of the long exposure, but this image was taken late in the evening as the snowstorm was winding down this past weekend.  It was a pretty cool scene to enjoy during the storm with the lighting – especially with the quiet that set out over town as people hunkered down and stayed inside. The LED lighting overpowers the scene with the long exposure, but I like the star-like appearance of the light itself – so I decided this one is a keeper.

Passers By

Passers By

The Memorial Bridge is one of my favorite places in the Seacoast as you can enjoy a fantastic view of Portsmouth and Kittery on a walk over the Piscataqua River.  The positioning of the bridge provides great views of sunrise and sunset – but on this particular evening I was drawn to the architectural detail and symmetry of the structure and the motion of the cars in either direction as they passed by.

Vintage Memorial Bridge

Now that the sleek new Memorial Bridge is open for business, it’s fun to take a look back a couple years to what the previous structure looked like in its last days. In this vintage Memorial Bridge shot, the rust and the decay is very evident.

The Gear | Memorial Bridge

I was fortunate enough to get an in depth preview of the new Memorial Bridge on its opening day, and I wanted to share another one of my favorite images from the tour. This is one of the massive gears that works to operate the massive lift system for the center span.  I thought the gear was incredibly imposing and the intricacy of the pulley lines were equally impressive.

Morrison's Lobsters & The Memorial Bridge

Now that the Memorial Bridge is open for business, it has re-opened a world of options for shooting on foot.  In my first walk back over the bridge after work, I took a nice stroll along the Kittery waterfront and enjoyed seeing many familiar old structures that I haven’t seen in some time.  The Morrison’s Lobsters warehouse on the Piscataqua River has always been a favorite subject – and I’m drawn to the clean lines of the piers and the new Memorial Bridge along with the linear wall of metal on the building itself.

Memorial Bridge Opening 2013

The new Memorial Bridge was opened to the public with great fanfare on August 8, 2013.  It was rejuvenating to see so many members of the community come together to celebrate an achievement that will benefit so many people.  It was a truly memorable event, and when the presentations were finished and the ribbon cut by the legendary Eileen Foley, pedestrians and cyclists were able to enjoy strolling around the bridge before any vehicles had a chance to take to the new roads.  The structure is very impressive from afar, yet streamlined and surprisingly enjoyable to walk along.  I’m looking forward to many sunrises and sunsets from the inviting sidewalks and bump outs along the sides of the fresh pavement.

Memorial Bridge Opening Day

On the eve of the historic re-opening of the Memorial Bridge, I decided to head over to the Portsmouth entrance to the bridge and enjoyed a surprisingly quiet scene.  Last night was probably the last night for a very long time that it will be possible to stand in the middle of the road for minutes at a time, so I made the most of it while taking photos of the impressive new structure.  Today, on the opening day for the Memorial Bridge, people will arrive in droves to watch as the communities of Kittery and Portsmouth are reconnected – with this scene to become very busy for the next hundred years.